Paradigm Shift
by Calleo
Summary: Mixing young children and fel magic tends to create problems, to put it lightly. Ongoing RP/story, will likely have chapters added later. Collab with a couple of guildmates.
1. Chapter 1

(( Backstory for those of you not in Burning Tusk Tribe: Lyria is the adopted daughter of Irinyes. She is a young child, abut seven or eight in appearance (or to put it in 'human terms'), and got herself wrapped up in fel magic. Since that point, she'd become increasingly difficult to control to the point that her mother was worried that she'd end up killing someone or killing herself. By the time of this story, she had already cursed at her 'nanny' figure several times, and had managed to drive a peon in the Valley of Trials to insanity just for the fun of it.

Irinyes asked Calleo and Eunn (one of our Troll mages) to help her out by getting her back in line. She also asked, for the time being, that Lyria live with Calleo so that she could have constant supervision and structure.

This is an RP in-progress, and will likely be updated with future chapters.

Reposted WITH permission from Lyria's player.))

"I'm picking out a gyro for you..."

She sang and tried to pick up another of Calleo's history books only to be blasted by yet another of the wards that Eunn had so painstakingly set.

"...Not an ordinary gryo for you..."

Another book and another ward.

"...one without all the kodoshit magic writings..."

Another book and another ward.

Lyria screamed in child-like rage, her voice cracking as it echoed around the house. She screamed until her voice gave out before she finally sat back down and waited, her anger and frustration at the situation growing with every passing hour.

Calleo paused at the door to his house, recalling the Eunn had mentioned a trap. He smiled at the still closed and well warded door, waving his hand lazily, dispersing Eunn's trap with a simple immolation spell* and stepping inside.

He took his time in making his way into the main room of the house, stopping off first to straighten a slightly crooked wall hanging, and detouring into the kitchen for a cup of tea.

Putting his glasses on, Calleo stood alternating between sipping far-too-hot tea and flipping through the day's mail that he'd not yet bothered to deal with.

Convinced the girl would be in the main room of the house, mostly due to the fact that the entrances to every other room were either warded heavily or trapped, he eventually set the invoices and bills aside, and stepped into an area where Lyria could, if she were awake, see him easily.

Leaning on the door frame, Calleo waved his hand (and teacup), lighting the house for the evening.

He scanned the room, focusing mainly on shelves of tomes and the multitude of photographs on the wall, keeping count of the number of wards that had gone off in the past few hours.

The older warlock grinned, his voice taking on a almost sing-song tone, "Lyria?"

Lyria sat up, whipping her small pack of clothing she had packed for her stay with Calleo straight at the Sin'dorei Warlock. She screamed again, her voice this time weak from the good hour she had howled previously. It was becoming more and more obvious how far she had let herself fall into the Fel without the control and supervision of an attentive parent. She was almost feral in her rage. And she glowered, sitting on the floor, hugging her legs to her chest. She glowered.

Still leaning idly on the door frame, Calleo raised an eyebrow and did little more than sip at his tea until Lyria stopped screaming, and never taking his eyes off of the girl.

"Are you finished?" he glanced at his pocket watch, not really waiting for or expecting her to answer.

Calleo set his teacup down on a nearby decorative, and fairly cluttered with books, end table, "I should hope you are, because I don't intend to have to listen to that nonsense any longer. Screaming isn't going to get you anywhere with me, nor is making faces."

WIth very surprising swiftness, doubly so considering his previously calm, almost bored demeanor, Calleo crossed the room and, in one fluid motion, drew his staff and thrust it at Lyria's neck, shoving the girl backward and pinning her to the floor between the two carved horns at the tip of the dragon's head; the sloping forehead and snout of the dragon doing its part to keep her from being able to turn away or do much in terms of struggling if she still wished to breathe.

"Now," Calleo looked down at her, his expression having gone from bored to a very odd calm, "I suggest you pay attention, girl, as I will only go over this with you one time."

He tucked his glasses away and narrowed his eyes, "I am not your mother. I will not coddle you, let you get away with whatever you please, or let you do as you please whenever you please. I am not your," he sneered the name, "'Uncle Felweed', I am not your friend, and I do not give a damn if you live through this or not."

"In fact, if you don't survive, it's proof that you were never skilled, strong, or bright enough to manage dealing with the fel," Calleo smiled, a biting edge creeping into his voice, "and, to make matters better for me, if your bratty attitude gets you killed here, your mother would believe, without question, that you ended up killing yourself by accident. Do keep that in mind."

He shrugged idly, still keeping his gaze fixed on Lyria, "If you do? It's no matter. Nobody has any use for a weak warlock. Warlocks who act as you've been acting are a detrement to everything we strive to be, and have no place among us, among the living, among the undead, or even among the Legion as anything but ritual fodder" he shrugged, "if you're even good enough for that."

"Now then," Calleo twisted the staff subtly, not enough to cause more than discomfort, "you, my dear girl, have a problem with self-control and impulse inhibition. We're going to fix that, whether you like the idea or not. Let's go over the house rules, shall we?"

He smiled sweetly down at Lyria, the expression itself marred by the malevolent spark in his eyes, pulling the staff back just enough to allow her to sit up, but never moving it to the point that its curved horns would not be in position to pin her again should she try to run.

Lyria sat up slowly, watching Calleo carefully with calculated intelligence that was unnerving in a child so young. She remained silent, her eyes never once faltering from him.

She took a deep breath to settle the rage, a rage that still stormed inside of her. It had for some time, so long, Lyria had most likely forgotten its source.

She smoothed out the front of her robes quite properly and sat up straight as a Sin'dorei child should and watched. Listening.

A slow, unnerving smile crept over Calleo's face.

Careful never to break eye contact with Lyria, he continued, "Good, now, first and most importantly, while you are here, your life is not your own. I own you. You start here with nothing, and you earn any privileges. Until you earn them, I control every aspect of your life, whether you wish it or not. From the time I tell you it's time to wake up from the time I decide it's when you sleep, you have no control over your life. If you think you have control of anything while you sleep, I'll take care of that with a Dreamless Sleep potion or two."

He tilted his head, still smiling, "Nothing in this house is yours, nor are you actually worthy to go near it, that includes all furnishings, food, water, or anything of that sort. Every last bit of it is mine, and if you behave, I may be kind enough to share it with you," he shrugged dismissively, "if you cannot behave, you're the only one who will suffer for it."

"Moving on," he drummed his fingers on the staff, "I do not allow pets of any sort or demons, other than mine and Aglac's, in the house. If I find them, I will confiscate and kill them," his smile widened into a sharp, toothy grin, "in front of you."

"None of what you brought with you," Calleo cast a pointed glance at the small satchel of clothes that had been thrown at him earlier, "is yours. Anything and everything in this house is mine to go through, take, keep, or destroy as I see fit. We'll be going through your things in a few minutes to make sure you didn't lie to Eunn about not having any of your pets with you."

Calleo turned his attention back to Lyria, "You will not leave the house. 'Sneaking out' is not an option. The wards," he smiled again, "are lethal."

"While I am gone, if you are not with me and not with Eunn," he moved the staff toward Lyria again, nudging the girl backward a bit, "you will be here. For now, you will touch nothing, and do nothing. Scream yourself hoarse for all I care, nobody will hear you and, if they did, nobody would care. Everything, save the floor, is off limits. You'll use that time to sit and think about how you've been acting and work on controlling your little tantrums."

"IF I find you can be trusted alone, I may give you access to some of my more benign books. If not? It's not my problem and it will continue until you learn. If you think," he leaned down a bit, looking directly at Lyria," that you can outlast me or wear me down, keep in mind that I enslave more powerful things than you and I have no qualms about introducing a child to levels of pain that would kill most adults. I enjoy the screams."

"Now then, as for the house," he used one free hand to make a sweeping gesture around the area, "all rooms are off limits when I am not here, and all rooms are, at this point, off limits while I am here. This extends to the furnishings as well. Until you can stop acting like a feral dog, you'll stay on the floor as though you were one."

Calleo straightened, finally taking his staff away from Lyria, and grinned down at her in a very cheerful fashion, "Now then, Lyria, shall we go through the bag you brought with you and make sure there aren't any pets or books you ought not have hidden in there?"

Lyria nodded slowly and stood, risking the consequence if any to get her satchel for Calleo. Her movements were slow, knowing that the Older Warlock was watching her carefully. Much like a creature who had been put into its place, she brought the satchel to Calleo and handed it over to him as well as the small soul bag she carried on her belt. Once this was done she took a seat on the floor again exactly where she had been originally. As she had been.

Neatly, she folded her hands on her lap and returned to watching him. While her face remained expressionless, there was a deep fear and respect behind the bright fel-glow of her eyes.

Throughout, she remained silent; out of fear, respect or hatred was not discernible.

Calleo allowed Lyria to move, keeping a close, watchful eye on everything that she did. He took the satchel from her with no hint of anything aside from mild irritation, going so far as to narrow his eyes into a vicious glare as he did so.

Leaning his staff against him to keep it from falling to the floor, he began going through her things.

"These," he didn't bother to look at the girl, "you are not worthy of taking or keeping yet."

Taking the small pouch of soul shards out of the satchel, Calleo went through them, one by one, systematically shattering them, "You'll be allowed to deal with shards when you've proven you can handle the spell again."

Once the soul pouch had been emptied, a greenish tinted flame engulfed it, reducing the item to ash in a matter of seconds. Calleo continued, going through all of the pockets of her packed clothing, setting it aside as nothing is found.

"Now, this-" he held up a book, flipping through it quickly, "Where did you get this?"

Tucking the book under his arm, it was clear that Calleo fully intended to keep the tome for himself, "Cultist writings are not for children. I may consider giving this back to you in a few decades, but, for now, you'll tell me where you got it. Keep in mind, "he smiled down at her, "'I don't know' or 'I don't remember' are not proper answers, and should you choose not to answer, I'll find out by force."

Her ears flattened as she watched the flames engulf her soul bag, it was an object of pride to her. Bought with her will earned gold from conning people in Silvermoon to buy her dust encrusted flowers. Her gaze flickered quickly back up to Calleo as he spoke.

"Dalaran, Sir. It was in my desk at the Academy when Minn'da sent me to learn the Arcane." She answered simply, her usual deadpan voice hoarse from her earlier screaming. It didn't waver. Nor did she show any hint to hiding a grander truth. "It is what made me interested in the Fel."

Calleo nodded, though his expression held more than a small amount of skepticism, "And you didn't think to turn it in to the headmaster? Or, at least, to your instructor?"

He waved one of his hands in a dismissive manner, "No matter, what's done is done on that front. The fact remains that this book is not meant for children. There are things in there that-well, are probably a good reason that you've shaped up to be such a little brat."

The older warlock smiled again, "And that is what you are. You're not some powerful, grand, skilled prodigy, you're a spoiled little brat," Calleo shook his head, "It's hardly your fault though, with your mother being so focused on her own life and business that she's all but brushed you aside and, when she found she could no longer handle you, tossed you off on me as a last ditch effort to fix you before likely returning you to whatever squalid orphanage you came from."

Calleo turned in a sharp, precise fashion, and moved to one of his bookshelves, "This will stay with me. It's my second copy, oddly enough," he slid the book into an empty space, "Oh, and before I forget-"

"I do not live alone, as odd as that may seem to you," he turned around, still standing by the book case, "Occasionally, you may see Aglac around here; as with everything else in this house, he is mine. You are not to speak to him, and if he can even be bothered to acknowledge that you exist and speak to you, you are to tell him that you are not permitted to hold unsupervised conversation. You'll get no sympathy out of him, so don't waste his time or yours by trying."

Calleo turned back to the book shelf, absently reorganizing some of its items, "Is that clear, Lyria?"

Lyria nodded simply, "Yes, Sir." Her voice quiet in her response. She knew too well why she had been brushed aside, she remembered the strung-out Sin'dorei who adopted her. She always knew that she had been adopted to fill a void. Another of her mothers mistakes, one she knew also, that was never a regret. The child had also come to understand that it was her own actions that lead her mother to stop bringing her into the shop. That drove Irinyes attentions away.

She remained sitting on the floor, her eyes never once leaving Calleo.

Calleo, internally, smiled victoriously; he'd hit a nerve with the girl, and the expression showed in his eyes, despite his overall face appearing neutral.

He strode across the room, looking down at Lyria, "I'm glad you've decided to, outwardly at least, acquiesce. However," the warlock smiled again, "you're a liar. You're acting how you know I expect you to act, and, believe me, I am well aware of it. I know this game well."

"What you need to learn, Lyria," Calleo sat down next to the girl, "is how to fake it. Self-control is what keeps us alive. The magics we use on a regular basis would destroy us without it, as they're doing to you."

The older warlock leaned back on his hands, grinning up at the ceiling of the room, "You'll eventually form a public face and a private face. If you have any intelligence at all, your private face is one that only YOU will ever see, and in public, you'll appear every bit the proper Sin'dorei."

"It matters. You shouldn't be open about what you do; what we deal with are things that are best left alone, but we chose not to do that," Calleo closed his eyes for a moment, and then turned to Lyria, "That alone requires us to control impulses to avoid falling prey to what we seek to control."

"Tell me," he shifted a bit; sitting on the floor was, after all, less than comfortable, "how many voices, other than your own, do you regularly have bouncing off of the walls of your mind?"

"Three." She said, answering only what she was asked. It was not done out of disrespect, but fear.

Again, that fear. Her mind questioned it. She couldn't grasp it, she couldn't pinpoint it. It wasn't like her fear of Eunn with his looming figure and booming voice. Quietly, and quiet meekly she added on, "Sir, what do you I call you if not Uncle Felweed? I find just Calleo to be disrespectful as you're my elder and my teacher."

She remained still as she sat on the floor, as if frozen despite finding her legs were asleep.

Calleo stared at the girl for some time, "Three? Three that aren't yours? From what I've seen of the training you've had, you've bound an imp and a voidwalker. Which voice is the third?"

He motioned for silence, "Answer that once I've finished. As for what you call me," the warlock shook his head, "Sir, for the time being, will suffice. I may change that later, I may not."

He leaned back on his hands, grinning again, "I cannot tell you how much I LOVE that feeling, that fear, especially when there's an attempt to hide it. You'll learn to appreciate it as well at some point; it's almost a bigger rush than the fel energy itself."

"I can, however," Calleo leaned over, far too close and smiling at the side of Lyria's head, "smell the fear on you. You're afraid of me, aren't you?"

In spite of her fear, Lyria merely turned her head to look straight into his eyes. She had picked up her mothers stubborn nature. "Yes, Sir. I'm terrified of you."

"And I know that you told me, 'I don't know' would suffice as an answer, but I don't know what the third voice is, Sir." She took a deep breath, it wasn't the petulant over exageration that she had practiced so well, she was thirsty and hungry. She was tired.

Calleo chuckled, "You should be, Lyria. You should be terrified of me. It's only by my good will that you don't end up dead or, even worse, screaming in agony. I could, you know," he smiled again, a vicious, cutting look, "with the snap of my fingers, and nobody would question how it happened."

He leaned over to her again, "It wouldn't be anywhere close to the first time; it's a practiced art, and one, if you're as bright as you appear, that you'll perfect at some point in your life."

"That's another matter, however," the other warlock stood, looking down at Lyria again, "You've had a long day of throwing tantrums, I'd wager-yes, I was aware-my wards are tied to me. I know when they go off and why they go off," Calleo smiled at her, "Now, how about you help me make dinner and, after that, you get some sleep?"

Again, she answered solemnly and pushed herself to her feet. "Yes, Sir."

She tried to follow the older Warlock into the kitchen but found herself stumbling over her legs which now tingled with the sharp pains of awakening. "Sir, can I have a moment?" She asked after falling back onto the floor, "My legs fell asleep."

"Then crawl," he turned to look down at her, "that sort of thing never lasts long, and I expect you to keep up with me, whether you can walk or not."

Calleo moved about the kitchen, hardly stopping to look; he clearly new the place by memory alone, "You'll learn, eventually, that any sort of weakness shown invites little but misery, injury and death. If you have any sense, you'll learn to hide it to the point that it becomes impossible for any outside source to detect."

He turned again, rather suddenly, and glowered at Lyria, "Get up. Stop crawling around like a stray animal and have some pride."

Lyria sat there a moment, the rage bubbling up in her again if only for that moment. She took a deep breath and pushed herself to her feet, quickly making her way into the kitchen after him. She'd stumbled a few times and try to catch herself on the furniture in her path, setting off a ward of two. "Sorry." She mumbled after each.

She came to stand beside him, her eyes barely level with the large wooden table. She leans up onto the tips of her toes to look over the top of it and blows away a layer of dust but is careful not to touch the table.

"You're a warlock, girl, do not forget that; it puts you several levels above the cowering fools who cry about what we do," Calleo turned around, leaning against one of the counters, "Only those too weak to control it themselves pass judgement on those of us who can."

"You may, for the time being, touch the table and counters," he shrugged, turning his back to her, "Don't get too comfortable with it, however, as your access will again be restricted once we're finished here. We aren't doing anything complicated; it's getting late and I'd like to get some of my accounting done before I go to sleep."

Calleo turned around again, walking over to the table and setting down a few ingredients for Lyria to make little more than a simple sandwich and a glass of water, "Things will improve when you prove to me that you deserve it. Be glad I'm not feeding you like I feed my living reagents. Get some water if you want it; it's not a trick, you'll be allowed to take a glass."

He brushed past her, pausing in the doorway, but not looking back, "You have ten minutes, then you're going to bed. I suggest you hurry."

Lyria didn't pause in making herself a simple sandwich, nor in getting herself a glass of water. Both consumed within moments, she knew he had given her ten minutes but in not having a full formed conception of time, she rushed herself.

After eating she made the presumption that she was free to use the washroom before making her way back to the same spot in the main room of Calleo's house to curl up. Sleep found her quickly. And like all other nights, fitfully. Throughout the night she kicked out, tossing and turning. Screaming in her sleep without waking. It was hardly the actions of the day that brought on her terrors. They had been a constant in her young life.

Nine minutes were all that had passed.


	2. Chapter 2

(( Disclaimer in the first chapter still applies. Reposted WITH permission from both Lyria and Eunn's players. ))

"Wake up!"

Though not shouted, the command was clearly just that, and the voice giving it sounded anything but cheerful. In fact, to say the tone had been snappish and a bit surly would have been an understatement.

"If you think you can sleep the day away, you've another thing coming," Calleo nudged the girl's shoulder with his boot as he passed her, making his way into the kitchen.

In spite of the wall clock clearly visible, anyone with eyes could have easily seen that it was early; hardly past sunrise, if even that late.

"I'll be leaving," Calleo called, in the same mildly peevish voice, from the kitchen, "in roughly thirty minutes. If you want to eat this morning, I'd suggest you get in here," he continued speaking more as though he were talking to the walls and not to another person, "You'll stay here unless Eunn decides to burden himself with you today."

"Tonight you'll be taking those dreamless sleep potions before bed; you make too damn much noise. It's like having Baerath back in the house, only exponentially worse on every possible level."

Calleo turned, leaning back against the counter and, occasionally, taking a sip of coffee, "Ah, and there is one thing that slipped my mind last night: Lyria, hand over your talisman."

Lyria scrambled to her feet before her eyes were even fully opened. The jolt of his voice and kick of his boot encourging her quickly to her feet and followed him, rubbing the sleep from her eyes into the kitchen.

She paused in the doorway of the kitchen at his request for her talisman and stared up at him, he mouth moving to say something but as her ears went flat; it would seem she thought better of it.

"Yes, Sir." Her voice came, barely able to rise above a whisper now between her tantrums and the night terrors. Lyira slipped the talisman from her neck and handed it to Calleo as she came to stand it his side, again looking eye-level at the counter and awaiting her further instruction.

Calleo smiled at her as he put her talisman on a shelf that he knew would be just out of Lyria's reach; he took great, obvious care to ward the area around it as well, to be on the safe side.

"If anyone asks, Lyria, you lost it; being that you've been such an irresponsible, impulsive child, that story would go unquestioned. Now then, I'm afraid," he took a sip of his coffee, "that I generally don't do much in the way of breakfast that isn't coffee, and a stimulant," Calleo nodded toward his cup, "is probably the last thing you need, so let's make this simple, shall we?"

He grinned over the rim of the coffee cup, "You've been good, [i]so far[/i], this morning, and given that, I'll let you choose what you want to eat. Use one of the chairs to reach it if you need."

The older warlock gestured to the smallish kitchen, which, if nothing else, did contain a decent variety of common foods.

There was a sound of the crackling of arcane energy. The same kind of noise one would here from an individual teleporting oneself.

A familliar looking troll stood towering in the doorway looking in but not entering, more than likely due to the wards upon the enterance to the building.

He whistled some nonesensical tune as he waited, puffing on an onyx coloured smoking pipe every so often, plumes of purplish smoke rising from his nostrils as the large troll exhalled giving him a rather bullish look. Focused eyes scanned inside the small buidling, they were alert and taking in every detail. The monster of a troll moved to the side of the doorframe leaning against the wall. He would wait for now.

The sudden presence of outside arcane energy, moreso than any noise, alerted Calleo to-well, to be honest, he wasn't sure if it was a visitor or one of the stragglers of the Amani poking around.  
Or, hell, it could have just as easily been a bit of wildlife that wandered too close to the warding.  
He strode past Lyria, casting her a warning glare as he did so, and made for the main entrance to his house. The warding lowered itself as its creating spellcaster passed through, almost as if it were sentient and knew the routine, an immediately re-raised once the warlock had passed.  
"What is it? Have you got any idea how earl-" Calleo pulled the door open and, seeing who was waiting, his demeanor changed dramatically, "Ah! Eunn! Good morning, good morning! Lyria is just in the kitchen, hopefully making good use of the time she's got before I try to pawn her off on you for awhile."

He smiled, looking up, way up, at the very, very tall Troll, "Would you like to come in?" Calleo lifted his coffee cup toward Eunn, "There's coffee, if nothing else."

Lyria waited until Calleo was gone to begin putting together another sandwich with the ingredients left out from the night before. She hated eating quickly and preferred to make the most of her time. With the sandwich complete she gathered herself another glass of water and stood at the counter, taking her time to enjoy the food she was given as she woke fully.

She remained silent.

Where are you, my child? The voice inside her head echoed. It was not Jeptik's voice. Nor was it the voice of her voidwalker. It was eerie, strong, familiar. And yet she couldn't place it.

...I seek you...

The troll simply waved his hand dismissively at the idea of coffee "I do not tink I will be needin' it. I rareleh drink d'stuff as it tis." He said in a rather low tone.  
Eunn peered through the mess of dreadlocks draped over his face down at the Sin'dorei man smiling up at him. Quite unusual this was, even for Calleo, no doubt a gesture of gratitude that he would be taking the little terror away from him for the day rather than an actual welcome. No matter, he'd do what he came to do and relieve the old warlock from his duties for the day and the rest of the night.

Eunn followed Calleo into the building, He sat in a chair near the doorframe and watched as Lyria entered the room.  
"Leave all dat is your's 'ere child. Y'will not be needin' it." He commanded in a stern tone. The little Sin'dorei girl nodded without so much as a whisper of "Yes sir" before moving to his side as Eunn stood from his seat.

Calleo strode up to him, still grinning rather widely and in a friendly manner. Eunn looked down at the warlock with the same stony expression he usually wore on his face "I trust tings went well wit 'er Calleo. Na trouble hm?" Eunn placed his hand on the warlock's shoulder and leaned down grinning, rows of white pointed teeth showing prominently " I kin onleh assume Lyria 'ad a good nigh' wit her Uncle Felweed?" He glanced briefly at Lyria once more before turning back to Calleo.

Calleo returned a similarly toothy smile, "We had an excellent time. Lyria was very good, weren't you?"

He glanced at the girl, not waiting for a response, "Do enjoy your day with her, I'm sure you'll have quite a bit to talk about. I'd offer you a few suggestions, Eunn, on how to subdue her quickly, as I've noticed you have a similar staff to mine."

"Of course, you," he tilted his head, "have an added advantage of being very, very large and likely wouldn't need to resort to using anything but your size to scare the little brat into submission."

"Still," the warlock turned, grabbing his own staff, "for Lyria's size, the two horns on the head are long enough to let you pin her to any flat surface, and the spike on its forehead keeps her from struggling if she doesn't want to impale herself, while the curve of the dragon's head will easily restrict her breathing should she choose to try and squirm away."

Calleo bent down, patting the top of Lyria's head in a borderline condescending fashion, "You have a wonderful day with Eunn, dear."

Lyria remained by Eunn's side, her hands folded neatly in front of her as she stood. She understood Calleo's question to be rhetorical and kept silent, merely watching the two converse but the fire behind her bright fel-tinged eyes raged. Subdued. As if she was an animal.

Dawnstar

The voice again tugged at the back of her mind. An eerie echo that rattled.

If you could find your flowers... Another voice spoke up, grating and edgey, one she recognized immediately as Jeptik's.

Give a Troll dust...

"SHUT UP!" She screamed, her eyes closing in the frustration of the idea and in that moment forgetting the fear of her situation.

Immediately, Calleo swung his hand at Lyria's face; he did not, however, actually strike the girl, stopping just short and letting shadow energy that had formed hit her instead.

"Do not speak out of turn!" he all but hissed, eyes narrowing dangerously, "There are consqeuences, and you were warned."

Calleo regained his composure and took a more relaxed posture again, watching almost idly, "The agony will stop," a smirk tugged at the warlock's lips over his own questionable play on words, "once your screams do; and they will, whether by you stopping them or loss of consciousness stopping them, either method gets the same end result. Consider this a lesson in self control."

He glanced up at Eunn, giving the Troll a look that held more than a bit of warning with just a touch of "Don't you dare remove that curse."

Lyria stared at Calleo, her expression one of terror and surprise. As the curse hit her with it's full force her lips trembled as if to cry out. She bit them.

She stood there trembling in pain, Don't show your weakness. He had told her that only a few hours before. Her gaze was unfaltering. And despite her eyes welling up with tears. She remained unmoving.

You're powerful enough, you little shit. Curse him back! He's old!

She raised a hand up, almost as if she were to give in to Jeptik's voice. One only she heard.

Are you WEAK? Too weak to the deal with these NAGS?

Her breath was coming quickly now, on the edge of hyperventilating as she tried to regain control over the voices and calm the agony of the curse.

He will kill you child. Wait.

The voice of her Voidwalker, spoke finally. Always one to calm the pesky rage of her Imp.

I've found Ironies. The eerie voice, growing in familiarity. In the haze of the curse, she could recognize something of the third voice. Something she couldn't place.

Immediately grabbed Calleo by the collar lifting the elf of his feet, not a trace of emotion in his expression at all and whispered low and quite coldly in his ear

"You will make a promise t'me right dis moment. No harm will come t'da girl, weddah she lives or dies through dis will be of her own doin' an not yours or mine. I could care less what you tink or how you prefer t'go about your business, but right now, as of now. D'girl is in my care. An I will not suffer threats or attacks on MY students. I don't give two shit's d'reason. Whenevah she is in your care, do as you please I do na' care eiddah weh. But when wit me you will not lay a fingah on dis child. Remembah, you do not hold a position of authoriteh witin' d'tribe aneh longah, we are both of equal rank an' standin' so dat bein said, y'kin have your fun aftah y'pick her up tommrow."

Eunn simply drops the elf "You are not dealin' wit an individual whom deals in simple parlour tricks. Y'make a move against me now an' I've evereh means t'shut down whatevah sort of castin' or wards y'migh' intend t'use." The troll pointed to Lyria "Like her" He tilted his head rather slowly at Calleo, a predatory look in his eye by now, his upper lip curled in slight annoyance "Dis issa joint effort, an' if y'plan foah it t'be a success, den I suggest whatevah nuances about young children bother you y'block it out an' keep what evah impulses YOU have undah control. I realize she is a brat an when in my care I will deal wit it."

Eunn stretched his arm in Lyria's direction and the blue glow of arcane energy surrounded the small child to attempt to clear the curse.

Calleo caught himself well enough after being dropped, and regarded Eunn with a similarly cold expression. At first, he said nothing, and went about straightening ruffled robes instead, letting the Troll finish speaking.

If Calleo were prone to being truthful, Eunn was a rather frightening Troll both in size and skill; fortunately-or unfortunately, depending on one's view-the warlock simply knew better than to let that be known. Fear, after all, would give that overgrown savage the upper hand, and that was simply unacceptable: He'd have to bluff.

Calleo tilted his head, matching Eunn's angle, and mimicing the irritated sneer, "You forget, Eunn, that I'm also quite skilled in the arcane in addition to the fel. Do not think, for one moment, that I could not just as easily redo anything you see fit to undo."

His tone changed, punctuating every word as though it were a complete phrase, "You do not frighten me; I've enslaved larger and more powerful things. I'd suggest you not forget that."

As quickly as Calleo's mood had darkened, it shifted back to an abnormal cheeriness; his posture relaxed and he smiled up at Eunn again, "It's very clear that you have little experience in deal with the fel arts, however, and I cannot fault you for that, of course. We can't all master both schools of magic, after all."

He waved his hand at Lyria, though he wasn't entirely sure if it was his ending the curse or Eunn's decursing that actually cut the spell, "As you said, Eunn, she's yours for the day. Get her out of my sight."

Lyria took in a deep breath, hoping to hide the relief from the pain that had terrorized her in those moments. She followed Eunn in silence; neither looking back to wave goodbye to Calleo or hanging her head. Rather she folded her hands in front of her again and walked simply three steps behind the looming monster of a Troll.

Eunn's expression reverted to something of a smirk, a rather smug one at that, before turning to leave he would have words "An As I said, ya' opinions an' what you tink of meh 'ardleh mattah, mah main concern is Lyria. Besides I tink I 'ave made mah point clear, dat bein said. I will see you in d'mornin'."

"LYRIA! Come! We are leavin'!" Eunn beckoned for Lyria one last time, this time it was more of a bellow to try and snap the young girl out of her stupor.

Eunn seemed to grin wider and quite warmly at Calleo mimicing the warlock's demeanour quite pointedly "Well, see you tommorow den. I will inform you of results as dey come." He turned and headed out the door, Lyria in tow, all that was heard afterward was the whoosing of an arcane portal being opened.

The two would instantly wind up in Silvermoon. Eunn would forcibly coax Lyria along as she seemed to lag behind some "Hurry along girl I ain' gun wait foah ya!" He announced to her harshly she seemed to need to jog a bit to keep up with the massive troll's great strides. The pair walked through Murder Row, many of the locals and would-be seedy individuals that roam about the row would stare at the two as they walked mostly focusing on the small Sin'dorei girl, Eunn would give gawkers a sideways look every so often and they would avert their attention.

A beggar woman constantly chiding the troll for money or any valuables would constantly stand in his path and he would repeatedly shove the woman out of the way. Courtesans, the kind one would usually see in the wee hours like this and late at night would make rather lewd attemps to woo the troll, Eunn grabbed Lyria's hand and whispered "Steh close an' don't look at anehone. Look straight ahead" He coaxed her along walking quickly, the women following seemed to stop and turn the other direction at this gesture.

Eunn glared at their backs as they left. He continued on through the Inn, the pair stepped over some people whom had seemed to have passed out after a night of drinking, one man grabbed Lyria's arm in a drunken stupor hanging off the child. Eunn reared his leg back and kicked the drunkard hard enough to send him end over end across one of the tables and against the wall on the other end of the main lobby, He then teleported along with Lyria to the middle of the Royal exchange.  
Eunn moved quickly towards the north end of the district, wading through crowds of people making sure not to loose Lyria in the process. They came to a row of ground level apartments, Eunn turned the knob on the door to open it, mail that had piled up in the past few weeks had been lain at the base of the door, he picked it up, bills, announcements, property tax, nothing of real importance.

The two walked into his the apartment, Eunn waved his hand casually and the door dematerialized behind them. The apartment seemed lavish, and well looked after, a general upper class type suite. Books everywhere along the wallls, obviously modified to accomodate a troll of Eunn's stature. Eunn sat Lyria down in a desk in the middle of the floor "I've some work f'you t'do." Eunn brought out a large tome titled "Basics in the Arcane" He nodded to her "You will read da first ten chapters, carefulleh, aftah you are done I will give a test t'you t'complete. If you fail you will start ovah. Do na complain t'meh bout 'ow borin' it tis. You will need dis in ordah t'progress. Learnin' d'basics of arcane kin 'elp a young girl like you gain d'clariteh an' fundamental skills she needs in ordah t'wield d'fel properleh."

Eunn smiled sweetly at the girl, whether or not it was genuine was questionable "You've d'resta d'mornin' t'studeh, when I tell you you're time's up I will give you said test." He grinned alittle wider at the girl "An oh! If you should fail Lyria? Well...jus' don't fail hm? Ya's a smart girl." He clapped a hand on her shoulder before sitting down on an armchair infront of her, he would lean forward and watch the child like a hawk for the remainder of the morning.


	3. Chapter 3

(( Previous disclaimers apply. Reposted WITH permission from Lyria's and Eunn's respective players. ))

_Arcane? What is this garbage? You don't need to learn it! Look at that twat of a Magi. You could curse him and run. The Guards will believe he kidnapped you. He IS a Troll._

Jeptik's voice raged inside her mind. She opened the tome that Eunn had set in front of her and began to read, the voice of the Imp still rattling in her head.

_Will you shut up you snivelling Imp? _ The voice of Lyria's voidwalker roared. _ Are you such an idiot to see that through this she'll GAIN power?_

The childs ears went flat as she tried to read; the arguement growing between the demons in her head battling on and attempting to destroy her concentration. It would continue for hours, the constant temptation to scream at them again lurking. Her fear of Eunn keeping her silent and forcing her shift their voices to the back of her mind. They fought with her, Jeptik constantly screaming her weaknesses.

From time to time she'd glance up at the monsterous Troll as if pleading with him to help her silence them. Silence what though? She knew an Arcanist couldn't possibly understand the hold that her Demons had on her. Somehow, she managed to continue studying despite the fight in her mind. The third voice however, remained silent.

Eunn would watch the child quietly. Sometime about an hour in he began to talk to her in a steady and calm tone.

"Everehtin' you are goin' through is not easeh is it? I know, I've been dere, I was as angreh an' confused when I was your age, rage was mah mastah an' at dat tiem it nearleh consumed meh, dat is why I suggest dat since it is a major problem in y'life at dis moment you use dat anger foah moah productive means. You are also frightened, dat much is evident. Unsuah of what is gunna 'appen, unsuah of your future, not knowin' ifn you will make it."

He stopped and moved around the room, pacing slowly as he spoke.

"But dis is not d'be all an' end all. People whom have fallen t'da allure of Fel have turned aweh. I undahstand how countah productive dat sounds righ' now, but

realize dat you must gain a propah undahstandin' an sense of control in ordah t'move on in your craft. I will do what is necessareh t'help you achieve dat. But know dat while you are undah my care I will let no external harm come t'you, you will be treated as if y'were mah own." He paused his tone dire and serious by now

"Whatevah is goin on inside your head though...is sumtin' you must learn t'cope wit on your own. I...cannot help you wit dat. No one can, not even Calleo. Your real battle is witin' yourself. Do. You. Undahstand?"

Eunn continued to watch the girl intently as she studied. In the back of his mind he was worried, and he would continue to worry for the youth, especially after the incident during the previous morning. But he would never let these signs come to the surface, for the task at hand was too critical to show weakness.

So he would sit back down and continue to watch as she worked.

Lyria watched Eunn as he paced, pausing her moment of stody to refocus her mind on his words. They sank in, she didn't want to self-destruct. In the back of her mind she didn't want to let the Fel destroy her. She nodded, "Yes, Uncle Eunn." She understood.

Quickly, her attention ventured back to the book as she flipped the page to begin the sixth chapter.

The constant fight in the back of her mind raged on with the voices, she struggled with her concentration.

After some time, the large troll drew his pocketwatch from a pouch on his open robe. He hit it and it stopped. It had been close to six hours by now. Eunn stood up and clapped his hands "Alright! Now! I tink dat is long enough hm?" He brought out another smaller tome "Dese are questions based on everehtin' you 'ave studeh'd, dere is a space in d'back of da book where you will place d'correspondin' answers. You will complete dis an' have it on meh desk up front by d'time I get back."

Eunn paced around Lyria's desk behind her "Also, do not even considah cheatin' d'parchment contains a special ward dat will detect as much unless you wish t'find out what it does you will refrain from such action." Eunn placed a large calloused hand on the tome Lyria had used to study with.

The troll picked up the tome and placed it back on the shelf tapping it once and many arcane runes lit up the room briefly before he took his hand away and returned to Lyria's side looming over the child once again "I'd advise against readin aneh material in dis room as well, as you kin guess tis all strongleh warded, an' all 'ave d'potential t'cause harm should anehbodeh but me touch em. Da onleh place dat isn't warded is your beddin" Eunn pointed over to a rather small, modest looking bed that seemed to be made under one of the book cases adjacent to the one across the room that was very large and quite obviously his.

"I will remove certain wards when I feel you 'ave earned da right t'use some of da da facilities 'ere I will be gone foah awhile, as I've business t'attend ta, it could beh till late in d'evenin' so when I get back I expect you t'be asleep and da completed test to be on mah desk." Eunn grinned at Lyria before turning to walk out the door again which materialized as he walked out then de-materialized leaving a general landscape painting of Eversong Woods.

Eunn sighed as he walked the street towards the Sunfury Spire. This would be a long and difficult process, and he was no experienced teacher by any means, but he would do what he could for her. She deserved it. And with that in mind he would wade into the crowds once more.

Lyria sighed as she picked up a pencil and opened the smaller tome of questions.

List the basic tenants of magic usage...

_Curse. Ask questions later. The more pain, the better._

It was Jeptik's voice again and knowing that she was alone, she screamed, "SHUT UP! You stupid Imp! You're nothing but trouble. Anytime I listen you, there's nothing but trouble."

_I've been more of a parent to you than your Minn'da or your Sweetistle._

"His name is Korzif. And I told you to shut up, Jeptik."

She scribbled down the first few answers, the words coming easily to her mind despite the still raging arguement inside her head. When Eunn would look over the work, he'd find she was jamming her pencil to the paper rather than writing as a normal person would. Her rage at her Imp overwhelming her almost. She'd work on the test for hours, double checking her answers and even triple checking them. All she wanted to do was go home... test her curses on the raptors.

_No one wants you at home... attack the Troll._

"Fuck you Jeptik." She mumbled and headed into the small bed under the bookshelf. She tosses the sheet over her head. She stank. She was hungry. She was thirsty. And she was tired. It wasn't long before her night terrors found her again. The eerie echo of the third voice creeping back into her head.

Night had already fallen, Eunn had just returned with a stock full of books and a few foodstuffs picked up from the market. He entered the spacious room that was his apartment to find Lyria asleep disturbed but asleep. He walked up to his desk to see a farmilliar tome laid there, would sit down and open it to reveal the basic questionaires and the answers following, he would skim through the answers on the last page the back of the bookl, reading carefully. It would seem that even though there were many grammatical and spelling errors the young girl had managed to at least scrape by on this test. But so many garbled words and spelling mistakes made it difficult to read as if she was struggling to force the information onto the page.

Eunn looked over to the girl from where he was sitting he half smiled "Yer on y'weh little one, it will not be easeh but 'ave faith."

He moved to sit on his own bed and watched the girl move listlessly in her sleep he spoke to her in a low and rather comforting tone, not bothering to question wheather she heard him or not "Y'gotta long journeh ahead a' ya, Calleo an' myself will test your mettle t'da extreme whilst you are wit us. Y'must realize dat it is all foah y'own benefit. Y'Minn'da while 'avin issues of 'er own does care foah ya. As does Korzif. Dey would nevah 'ave asked us t'try an' elp ya ifn dey dinna love you.

Y'were a good girl when y'Minn'da took ya in so I 'ear, I wanna believe dat. An' I believe given time you will or at least appear t'be dat same child dat grew on so maneh people."

The troll paused and walked around the room he brought a plate with various fruits and some other small food items on it from the table that he had bought whilst on his daily outing. He walked over and laid the small plate of food on the end table next to Lyria's bed and walked back to his own.

He sat back down again and laid his head on the bookcase on the wall "No weh I'll be lettin' ya go 'ungreh, despite all dat you are goin through y'will need to bathe an' 'ave a regulah change a clothin', I will ave it all readeh by mornin' y'will na' beh able t'take it wit'cha when Calleo arrives t'take ya t'morrow. But when y'are wit meh you will beh raised as a child should. Y'need at least one person t'act as a parent. An if Calleo will not I will...Y'probableh di'na 'ere meh but, Dere y'ave it. Y'gotta home 'ere aweh from 'ome at least. An' as y'improve you'll be able t'gain moah semblance of independance."

The large troll heaved a sigh and closed his eyes. Didn't matter what he would say at this point, she was asleep. Weather it got through to her or not was highly questionable due to her odd fits in her sleep, Eunn would ignore that for the time being and get some sleep himself. He would hope Lyria would survive the next day and following night with Calleo. For if he could keep the young elf away from the elder warlock he would, but the fact remained Calleo as ruthless as he could possibly get was a means to an' end and the troll would tell himself time and time again that both of their co-operation with eachother would be needed to help shape Lyria into a promising warlock herself. The troll fell into an uneasy slumber knowing he'd wake her soon and send her on her way.

Lyria was thankful for the small favours Eunn bestowed upon her. When she awoke in the morning, she was grateful for the plate of fruits that he had left her and devoured them along with a few glasses of water. She relished in the bath he allowed her to have as well as the change of clothing.

When she had cleaned up, she sat again on the chair at the table and awaited Calleo to retrieve her. She sat in silence, the voices of her mind quiet for now.


	4. Chapter 4

Calleo arrived looking a bit worse for wear-no, that wasn't quite accurate-he looked a bit as though he'd been up all night, and the previous day.

After knocking, he made a cursory attempt to straighten his robes (or at least get both sleeves to equal length) and hair but, really, it did very little good, if any at all. The smell of smoke, for a change, just plain tobacco, clung to him, as did the faint smell of damp wood and standard, non-magical fire.

His overall posture, and demeanor, however, gave the opposite impression: Calleo stood, slightly relaxed (if a bit tired looking), and smiled at the door as he waited for either Eunn or Lyria to let him in.

Lyria was either in for a very easy, or exceptionally difficult day.

Eunn was already in his usual thin tribal robe, open all the way down the front and elegantly embroidered. A white embroidered sarong tied tightly around his waist and cut off at the ankles, heavy silver bangles around each one. He took his smoking pipe out of his mouth and put it away, also taking care to straighten out the tangled mess of dreadlocks falling about his face and shoulders to at least look somewhat presentable.

Eunn heard the knock at the door and waved his hand in that direction dispelling the ward that kept it closed from the inside, "You may entah!" He said in a rather commanding tone and watched a farmilliar Sin'dorei warlock walk in. Eunn nodded to Lyria, and greeted Calleo with an otherwise friendly grin and also a nod.

"Mornin'. I trust everehtin' is well?" Eunn moved to walk infront of his desk both his hands held open in a welcoming gesture as he walked towards Calleo. Eunn beckoned Lyria to Calleo's side "Lyria tis time t'go." He barked.

Lyria quite obediantly went to Calleo's side without so much as a question.

_Beckoning you like your Minn'da's animals! How can you allow this, girl?_ Jeptik's voice began screaming in her head again.

The girl reached up and swatted the side of her head.

_She has her freewill, Jeptik_ Her voidwalkers voice soothed her.

Lyria curtsied to Eunn, she was obviously thankful.

Calleo smiled, inclining his head politely to Eunn, "Bit tired, I suppose, but it's hardly the first time I've gone a day without sleep."

While he waited for Lyria, he tapped absently at the air in front of him, seeming to count, and occasionally shook his head, crossing out an imaginary figure and re-'writing' it.

Once he actually noticed the girl standing next to him, Calleo grabbed her shoulder and leading her out the door. If he had noticed Lyria hitting the side of her own head, he gave no outward indication. He paused, briefly, and turned to give a curt, business-like farewell to the Troll.

The trip back to the Ghostlands could best be described as uneventful; Calleo traveled in silence, only occasionally making a quick check to ensure that Lyria had not or did not appear to be making any attempts to run off or act out.

That silence, however, would turn out to be short-lived; as soon as the pair were through the door of Calleo's house, he began to speak, rather impersonally, to Lyria, "I suppose you had a wonderful, peaceful, quiet time with Eunn?"

He checked the final wards, ensuring that they were properly in place, and turned back to look down at the younger warlock, "And, if I had to imagine, he was gentle, rather kind, and very supportive? Made you feel welcome, wanted, and safe?" The questions were benign enough on the surface, but a perceptive ear would have likely picked up a dangerous edge to their tone.

Calleo watched Lyria, waiting for a response.

Once inside Calleo's home, Lyria stood at her spot on the floor. She did not sit, merely stood. Her hands folded neatly in front of her. She was well-kept now, having even taken the time to plait her hair into two braids. Her clothing was clean althought she still looked quite tired. She always looked tired.

"It was a quiet day, Sir. Mister Eunn had me read through ten chapters regarding the basic properties of the Arcane. He sat with me for precisely four hours before he departed leaving me with a test, Sir. I suspect I did well on the test because Mister Eunn allowed me to eat and bathe, Sir." She spoke precisely, clearly and to the point. Her expression was solid, but the deep fear of her true instructor was obvious in her eyes.

_Ironies seeks me... stop her, my child. You are mine. Not hers._

The voice again, the eerie one with such frozen connotations. The demons were silent when he was heard.

Calleo listened patiently, almost too patiently to not be disquieting; by the end of her speaking, the older warlock appeared to be very, very happy.

"Lyria," he leaned down a bit, smiling at her, "eventually, you'll learn to hide that; you're doing well at keeping everything but your eyes clear. Your fear is still obvious," he straightened, continuing, "And yes, I'm well aware that I told you that you should damn well be terrified of me, and that still stands."

He brushed past her, moving to the other side of the room to sit on the sofa, "However, I neglected to mention that, at some point, you'll need to learn to hide that fact entirely." 

"You see," he picked up a stack of mail from the table next to the sofa, "fear means death. No matter what Eunn tries to teach you, or what anyone else thinks they know, the fact remains that they haven't the slightest idea of what they're talking about." 

He continued, idly flipping through letters and not looking at Lyria. In any other context, he might have appeared to be a bit bored, "All the theory in the world means [_nothing_ as it does nothing to prepare you for what you'll actually face on this particular path. Those who claim to understand may mean well, but they can do nothing for you."

"I am not going to lie to you, coddle you, or shelter you from the reality of the path you decided you wanted to go down," one of the letters went up in a bit of greenish flame, "It will not get better, and it will never end," he glanced over the top of his papers to look at her for a brief moment, "They will never be silent, and you'll not have a moment's peace most likely for the rest of your life and beyond."

The older warlock stretched, stifling a yawn, "Eventually, you'll reduce it to something akin to background noise in a crowded cafe, but never complete silence. They will try to guide you, trick you, and lead you to death as that's what frees them from being bound slaves to you. Obvious attempts," he smiled, "are easy enough to ignore, it's the 'kindness' that takes most to their final end."

"And that's hardly the end of it, the demons chattering about in your mind," Calleo smiled at the letter currently in front of him, "There's always the pull to go back to the Legion, there are still cultists around who try to bring new blood in, and the fear-" he paused, then lowered the paper in his hand to grin broadly at Lyria, "that never stops. It's always present, always clawing at the back of your mind, no matter what you do, no matter how much you try to suppress it, it's _always_ there, it becomes a fundamental part of you for that reason alone."

"You'll either learn to control it to the point that it's not visible to any internal or external observer, or it will consume you."

He shook his head and sent a few more letters up in flames, "You, however, have an interesting benefit, though you may not quite realize it just yet. Have you any idea what that might be?"

Lyria's gaze did not follow Calleo. She did not watch him with her previously wary and furious anger. She merely stood, listening.

Upon the question asked of her she turned to face him, never one letting herself slouch or appear as anything other than a patient child. "That you are training me, Sir?" She asked honestly as the battle to quell her fear behind her eyes began.

Lyria listened intently, merely watching Calleo for now. She had no reason to speak. In her mind, the voices were quiet at least for now.

After a few moments she closed her eyes, keeping them that way until he completed his speech. When she opened them and looked to him again, the fear was gone. Hidden so far down that it no longer outwardly showed.

Calleo silently watched her for several minutes, "I'll assume, since you're not arguing, that you understand and fully agree."

He set down the remainder of his mail and folded his hands, steepling them in front of his chin in a fairly thoughtful manner, "Tell me, Lyria, what kind of daughter does your mother want? Or, more accurately, what sort of daughter do you think she wants?"

Lyria cants her head to the side, her expression clearly thoughtful, "Sir, I don't honestly know that my Minn'da even wants a daughter. Since she has one, I believe she'd like a child who will be her companion, something for her to nurture, teach her crafts to and feel like she is impacting. My Minn'da will stop thinking of the future when Mister Korizf and the rest of the Orcs die. She will only have me to love. And you, but Minn'da doesn't know how much you care, Sir."

She adjusts her simple blue robe and stands straight, "I see more than she cares to admit, even she looks at me as just being a child. Yes, I was acting the part. I was being careless with the teachings and trying to push myself too fast with the cultist literature, but, Sir, one does not see with their eyes and ears alone. Once sees with comprehension of what's in front of them." She pauses, "Sir."

"Now that," a slow, borderline malicious smile spread across Calleo's face, "is a proper answer. That, I think is what you need to focus on in regards to what you show the world around you. What we are," he stood, moving over to Lyria and crouching down to meet her at eye level, "are, at best, barely tolerated; that's why we hide what we are in the open."

"You," he reached out and gently poked Lyria's nose, "are going to present yourself, from this point on, as a happy, well adjusted, loving, sweet little girl any time you are out of this house, and with Eunn, feel free to be whatever it is you feel he expects from you," the older warlock grinned, "here, however, you are a warlock. I expect you to take care to control your actions and reactions, and to not overstep the bounds set for you."

He stood, striding across the room and pulling down a dusty, clearly not oft used grimoire from one of the higher shelves, "You may summon the appropriate demon as lessons require it, and dismiss them as soon as you're finished. This," Calleo blew dust from the cover of the book before opening it and giving it a very quick flip-through, "is one of the books I used early on in my studies."

"I think," he moved back to Lyria and held it out to her, "this is a better starting point than a cultist manifesto."

Lyria takes the book from him, still remaining in her same position. She reads over the cover before looking up and studying the older Warlock. "Thank you, Sir." Is all she says, awaiting further instruction and wondering if he'd remember the dampening rune on her wrist.

"Well?" Calleo raised an eyebrow, "What are you waiting for? You don't need to be able to cast spells to study them."

He turned and walked to one of the other book shelves, selecting a tome and curling back up on the couch, "Grab one of the chairs in this room; beats standing for studying," reaching over to the end table, Calleo snatched a pare of spare reading glasses and slid them on. For the most part, they stayed in place and only occasionally slipped down his nose.

Calleo glanced over the rim of his glasses at Lyria, pulled a ragged quill from one of his front robe pockets, flipped open the book he'd grabbed and, occasionally, jotted a few things down in the margins.

"We'll take a break," he muttered, more into the book than to Lyria, "sometime by evening, if I remember."

Lyria walked over to a chair near the couch, figuring it would be preferential for Calleo to have her in arms reach. She say quietly and was careful to stay out of his reading light. She opened the tome and blinked a few times to bring the words into focus as she sat the tome on her lap.

In still being a child, she found herself far enough off the floor to swing her legs back and forth from the chair. The fabric of her robe brushing quietly together with the motion. She'd read for hours undisturbed, even by the voices. They seemed happy at the subject she read and allowed her peace to concentrate.


End file.
